Lifting up Humanity

China is by far one of the most unique and interesting nations to travel too. From the innovation to the commitment to culture and tradition, a trip to China seemingly has it all. Without sacrificing their cultural roots, the Chinese have been able to incorporate a modern fusion that separates them from their global neighbours. But what comes to mind when someone first explores the idea of visiting China? Let’s be honest, aside from many incredible attractions (The Great Wall of China for instance), many let their minds wander to their favorite Chinese action thriller. Kung Fu and Tai Chi are a few martial arts that come to mind when thinking about China. Some people truly believe that all Chinese citizens are masterfully trained in martial arts, and could effectively pounce into action at a moment’s notice. Although epic, this train of thought does not accurately represent Chinese society.

The historical origins of martial arts in China, especially Kung Fu, are extremely fascinating. Originating in dynasties centuries ago, such martial arts were established as an efficient tool to combat external threats. It was meant to be used to defeat opponents using “hard” and “soft” methods, typically targeting joints and focusing on pressure points in the body. It has since transformed into more than just a method of attack, and has branched into hundreds of different varieties, with regional variations being formed. It is a pretty impressive art that combines patience, strength and beauty. When you watch someone perform a martial art such as Kung Fu, you can see both the peace and pure strength the performer has.

Now, where can a traveller go to get the most authentic and diverse Kung Fu experience? Since there are numerous varieties of Kung Fu, it can be overwhelming to decide which performance to visit. One great performance occurs at the “Red Theatre“ in Beijing. The current production takes the viewer on a martial arts journey through the life of a young boy. The boy goes through the different stages of life, and takes the audience with him through beautiful performances that showcase the mastery of Kung Fu performers. The end of the boy’s path takes the viewer to the stage where he finally reaches enlightenment. It is amazing such a deadly, powerful practice can result in such grace and achieve peace, and such performances leave the audience in awe.

Sometimes we think we have seen it all. In today’s society, it can be difficult to be “wowed” by the world, due to the constant bombardment of information. However, if a trip to China is in order, it is highly recommended to visit a piece of traditional and modern Chinese society by enjoying a martial arts performance. Unable to score tickets to such raved about performances as the Red Theatre? Try to soak in some of the Chinese culture through walks through Beijing’s Dongcheng District or Haidian District (home of the old and new summer palaces). It is impossible to not return from your travels feeling inspired by the Chinese fusion of tradition and modernity.

With our close proximation with the nightlife industry around the world, it has been our pleasure to get to know some of the most thrilling places in the world. From nightclubs to thrilling theatre and performance venues, we have seen a wide range of entertainment known to man. And one city that we have yet to cover in our posts is the marvelous metropolis of Shanghai. China has always been a key market for our products because of it’s huge size and interest in investing on new technology. As many of you know, our projects have been ambitious in terms of technological achivements as well as scale for which Shanghai is yet another promesing destination. We have yet to actually penetrate the market but there have been talks and the best way to ignite the spark of innovation is to enjoy the city.

This is the city that invented monkey champagne, with hip-hop clubbing on a peak level never seen before in China. And it really never fails to surprise how many different styles of music and performance are represented there. Just like from the old times, Tokyo used to be a popular front for all the major artists that wanted to perform live in front of an exciting and new overseas audience. Many have yet to realize, but Shanghai is beginning to take this very spot as the start of the night with high end events that attract even the biggest names. With an industry that only sees huge growth we can only expect the entertainment scene get bigger and bigger over time.

By sharing our discoveries we hope that others will become more interested in the Shanghai nightlife and it’s offerings in the starry sky. Besides the obvious clubbina and big dance events that are going on, the metropolis if well famous for theatre performance from small to big stage. The obvious classics are of course the world famed Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, that was formed since the beginnings of the peoples republic. Touring all over the world, this form of classic China entertainment is best experienced by dwelling it’s birth place. Namely two theaters, of Shanghai Center Theatre and Shanghai Circus World are the two that carry most of the fame. While other venues do exist, it’s best to go after the big stage production for that once in a lifetime experience that is waiting for all tourists. Feats don’t get scarier and more perfect than this because it’s the way things have evolved and also influenced the western performing stage.

Other than theater action there is of course a wide availability of amazing restaurants that are ready to challenge the hights of your taste buds. Going out to eat in Shanghai is almost exclusively a night time event and enjoyed with a merry atmosphere. But even such a perfect night as one can have with a great food and thrilling show, is not in it’s climax before adding a traditional Chinese massage into the mix. A hugely popular past time amongst not just visitors but especially the locals, who get their whole body massages or hour long foot treatments for incredibly low prices. While there is unlimited amount of excitement to be experienced, it needs to be first hand to grasp our excitement. The city of prospects is waiting for all those who are ready to embrace the nightlife of Shanghai!

While not exactly the Skywalker quality, it has come to our attention that water versions of the popular jet pack design are being sold on AliExpress. This device is becoming increasingly trendy and offering users a more affordable way of lifting oneself to the sky. Obviously they have a few limits, such as the fact that you need to use them on top of the water. But some say that this creates a unique and fun effect for a more playful atmosphere. Perhaps in the future, these jet packs will take over the surfing industry but only time will tell. Of course we have been aware of them for a long time, but never ever before we have seen them for less than 5000USD which is reality thanks to the Chinese AliExpress online store. If you are not familiar with it, I suggest you go and have a look because in terms of direct manufacture sales.. no other website can surpass the vast collection of products available. And even though it’s a Chinese concentrated business, there is no need to worry because you can follow these instructions to access AliExpress in English to make the experience worth it!

Some people already asked us that doesn’t this increase competition with the Skywalker jet packs. Well not at all because our products are made in the US and have a totally different customer base. And any form of “pack-technology” that can bring awareness is always good for all of us that are in the business. It has been evident that the Chinese will be coming strong with their technology and make such affordable solutions. But by the time the cost is down to their standards we won’t be seing anything nearly as competitive. By the time real jet packs that use turbines become a low cost device, you can be sure that we have gone out of business by then and honor to have the next generation take on the task.

But to get deeper into things, we decided to contact some of the AliExpress sellers until we found that speaks English fluently and is easy to deal with. Their product, promoted as “Jetpack – Make you fly more high”, is prived at US $4,500.00 a piece. It’s one of the top selling products of the factory located in Hangzhou, China. With a high quality production line that makes anything from Yachts to PWC. The device itself consists of a Handgrip, comfortable seat, “U” pipe, a 65 feet hose, horse bearing &swivel and a hardware kit. All in all it’s quite a simple device, which is meant to shoot water out of the pipe with such force that it pushes you up to mid-air. The height that can be reached is surprisingly high, at nearly 10 meters above water level. From what we heard from the seller, almost all the buyers are owners of recreational businesses. With only a handful of private owners, so despite the low cost we can expect to see the effects mostly in the final rental price for the moment. Which isn’t that bad at all seeing that it has taken many years to come this far.

We sincerely hope that this article will help to motivate others to develop the technology in a more broad sense, to which water jet packs are just one aspect of the amazing world that awaits. We love technology and to absorb every new development on the way, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any advice or are willing to share. Collaboration is also not out of the question as we have been doing in the past with the acrobatic show in China. Perhaps there is some kind of an interesting future for us, thanks to Alibaba Group & their awesome AliExpress service. Well, at least if their English is good enough which has been a necessity that is not always present in our experience.

We are proud to announce that we had made a decision to team up with a certain big stage production in the city of Beijing. It was all a combination of hard work, luck and a great team on both ends that made this prospect possible. While we are still in the stages of development in using our jet pack technology on a big theatre stage in the city. We are confident and ready to announce our partner of business, which is the incredible, the amazing, the unbelievable Chaoyang Theatre Acrobatics Show, in the proud Chinese capital.

Our meting with the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe was a mere coincidence while we were looking for shows that could be suitable with the Skywalker technology. We needed something big, so that we could have a change in making it big. Naturally we headed for the biggest there is, which is of course the prestigious Chaoyang Theatre. They are known to be the best acrobatics in the country, and well famous not just on a national but on an international level. Someone who had experience with foreigners. And that of course was the missing spice that made this all possible.

With our previous encounters with theatres, they knew little what to do with the offer. Therefore giving an element of uncertainty that we were not happy with it. We wanted to talk contracts, action and aspiration towards something that has never happened in the history of China. As we approached the Chaoyang district, we were filled with hopes and believed that this might very well be our last opportunity in Beijing.

First we simply watched the acrobatic show, and were very impressed. You could see that they had covered all traditional aspects of the performing art in every detail. You could say, that their show was perfect. As an extra spice, they had a motorcycle feat where they would ride around in a huge cage with a dozen or so motorcycles. This was great, but was lacking power. We could just feel how they wanted to make something huge as a grand final of the show, but at the same time something was missing. Perhaps they felt it too, but our best bet was that if they had realised that they needed something more. Evolution to jet packs was just a natural step in the evolution of the stage performance.

Luckily thanks to May Tours we had no problems with the language barrier, and they also had some English speaking staff. But even without a common language, we could feel as the eyes of the manager were glowing in excitement. And that was the very look we were looking for. The people were just amazing, so kind and served us the greatest tea we have ever had in our lives. We felt proud of achieving this far, and having found a receiving end that would appreciate us.

The conversation went swiftly, and our minds were flying with imagination when thinking what different things we could do with the jet packs. Already Chaoyang Theatre had a image of “flying acrobatics”, which is the name of the show. It felt like destiny to actually make their acrobatics truly flying with our jet packs. Simply put, we could not be more thrilled about this opportunity and wanted to share the beginning of a long story with you all. How it ends, is now up to us as a team. And that’s something we have learned in China, that just like in communism everything is a group sport.

We have been contacted by a Chinese big stage production company, but we are unable to enclose the name at this time. They have kindly requested us to collaborate in China for various performing arts venues. Naturally we felt honoured as stage productions are something we have been dreaming of for quite some time. While practical uses are our main priority, obviously jet pacs are highly useful for different kinds of entertainment venues as well.

So we set out to the big capital of China, to Beijing in search for different posibilities and negotiations. But we needed to set our minds on the country and learn something about Chinese culture. We take our work very seriously, and understanding the culture setting that you are going to be engaging in is exremely important. That’s why we hooked up with a local Beijing tour guide who would show us the ropes. Obviously we will have to teach the Chinese for example how to use the jetpacs, and how to do maintenance work. For this, we are happy to have found the lovely May Tours that have been like a friend for us showing how to engage ourselves in the local business community. Everything was so different with characters that we could not read everywhere. This made us think twice before setting our foot outside.. for this, we needed an expert private tour guide.

It has been tradition that once you set your feet on a new country, one of the first things to do is go and see something very traditional. This is to lay out the foundations for the understanding of a country and also gives you something interesting to talk about in business meatings. Not to look like an ignorant foreigner of course! We could think of no other than the art of Peking Opera as they call it. Which is an ancient old opera form that has originated form all over China and put together from the different forms here in the capital of Beijing. Also known as Beijing Opera, we heard that the most classic and tradition orientated performance would be at the Huguang Guild Hall. So before we went, we booked our Guild Hall Tickets and set out for the experience of our lives. Our minds were curious and ears wide open, which is needed in such an exotic destination with everything so new!

While we had an amazing night, the nonsurprising thought was that Chinese opera is not really suitable for jet pacs but the show was amazing. It was mostly about singing, music and coreography. While understandably it is not for everyone, it made our imagination fly to an ancient land in Beijing. Definitely worth it and made us understand a little bit more about what kind of curious culture these people come from. Interestingly thought we seemed to enjoy it more than our guide, who was originally from Shanghai. Anyway, we had a great time and we feel that we have a touch to what China is all about. Which is not just eating, although that was also something we did and enjoyed tremendously.

Obviously for finding good use for our Jetpacks in Chinese shows, we needed something bigger and a little bit more western that needed a flashy scene. This was of course, our next quest after enjoying some delicious dumplings and having a good rest at our hotel of course..!

We’ve always had practicality in mind when we designed the jet packs for our customers. It’s not just some dream about creating future technology for the sake of it. Instead, we always wanted that our technology would have commonplace use in everyday life situations. For that, the price had to be pushed down too and while we still have quite a way to go, the first models have been a success. That has motivated us to do even better in the future, going down with cost and going up with usefulness.

So what it the future of Jet packs is the question everyone is asking. For us, as just explained, it’s all about what uses can it have in the future. To find out what people would do if they would have a jet pack was surveyed and the results were simply amazing. This gave us a lot of insight and prospects for the future of what we could do with modern technology.

While part of the results remain a bit of a secret for the sake of competition, we do want to share some of it. Slowly, slowly as companies start using our products more and more. There have been some collaborations with companies and even some bigger corporations. But for the future, we can see an increase of use within more or less ordinary users. While not exactly “home use”, we have been finding some very interesting applications to our inventive career.

With years of development behind us, and with both failure and success. If something we have learned over these longs and at times enduring years is that collaboration is really the limit of success. We would have never made it this far with the “Jet Packs” project, if we wouldn’t have collaborated with amazing minds and engineers from all over the world. From China, Japan, to South Korea to all over the Americas. People have been extremely helpful with helping out and giving us a hand. Without these people we would be way behind in all our projects.

As the new year has passed and we are already planning new heights for our projects in 2015. I want to wish a warm and happy new year to everyone. Thanks for supporting us, and please follow us and read our blog to get to know what the future holds for all of us!

We have recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the invention of the ground braking Skywalker Jet Pack technology. Yes, it’s been an incredible ten years and jet packs have become an ordinary part of human technology. Helping out in many different aspects of life. In fact, we have been very surprised of all the different and innovative ways people have been using these jet packs!

That’s why we thought it was about time to turn a new leaf and introduce our customers some of these great inventions, and innovations. Of course, we are no longer the only ones roaming the jet pack industry which has further escalated the development of these devices. Some of us have moved on to new things already, some have stayed. Either way, it is now more than ever up to users to create the end result of this brilliant technology.

About us

Our jet pack can fly for about five minutes with the basic configuration. The production model jet pack will be capable of flying for up to ten minutes. With a range of 4 miles in all directions, and a integrated global positioning system, Skywalker jets has set the bar. With a weight of around 90 pounds, and the size of your average back pack, this unit can be carried in cars or vans. This system will be a great tool for law enforcement and Military organizations as well. One model will be a rescue platform capable of lifting two people. Read more..